Turkey clashes: Erdogan says protests 'are not Turkish Spring'

A bulldozer made its way towards the prime minister's office, as Catharina Moh reports PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan says four days of anti-government protests do not constitute a Turkish Spring. At a news conference before a trip to Morocco, he said the protests were organised by extremists and accused the opposition of provoking "his citizens". The protests initially targeted plans to build on a treasured Istanbul park but have spread into nationwide unrest. Reports say there has been a first death in the unrest with a 20-year-old man dying after being hit by a taxi. The demonstrator was killed after the car ignored warnings to stop in the Mayis district of Istanbul, said the Turkish Doctors' Union (TTB). After more overnight violence in Istanbul, protesters clashed with police on Monday in the capital, Ankara. Teargas and water cannon were fired at hundreds of demonstrators in the city as around 1,000 protesters converged on central Kizilay Square. Mr Erdogan said during a televised news conference: "There are those attending these events organised by extremists. This is not about Gezi Park anymore. These are organised events with affiliations both within Turkey and abroad. "The main opposition party CHP has provoked my innocent citizens. Those who make news [and] call these events the Turkish Spring do not know Turkey." Meanwhile, Turkish President Abdullah Gul urged calm and defended protesters' rights to hold peaceful demonstrations. "If there are different opinions, different situations, different points of view and dissent, there is nothing more natural that being able to voice those differences," he was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. "The messages delivered with good intentions have been received." In another development, a public sector trade union confederation, Kesk, says it will begin a two-day strike starting on Tuesday in support of the demonstrators. Protesters say the Turkish government is becoming increasingly authoritarian. They fear Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) is trying to impose conservative Islamic values on the officially secular country and infringe on their personal freedoms, correspondents say. Officials say more than 1,700 people have been arrested in demonstrations in 67 towns and cities, though many have since been released. Makeshift hospitals Overnight, protesters in the Besiktas district of Istanbul tore up paving stones to build barricades, and police responded with tear gas and water cannon. Mosques, shops and a university in Besiktas were turned into makeshift hospitals for those injured in Sunday night's demonstration. Several thousand people took part in the protest outside the recently decommissioned Besiktas football stadium. Unrest was also reported in the western coastal city of Izmir, Adana in the south and Gaziantep in the south-east. Last week, the government passed legislation curbing the sale and advertising of alcoholic drinks. The protests began on a small scale last week over redevelopment plans for the park to make way for the rebuilding of an Ottoman-era barracks, reportedly to house a shopping centre. The demonstrators say the park is one of the few green spaces in Istanbul, and object to the loss of public space for commercial purposes.